Point of View | Kalle Ikonen: Becoming a wood construction powerhouse takes action, not targets
Finland has the highest proportion of forest area in Europe. Measured by growing stock volume, Finland also has the third-largest forest resources in the EU, after Sweden and Germany. Together with a strong forest-based industry, this provides an excellent foundation for increasing the use of wood in construction.
The EU aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, while Finland has set an even more ambitious target of becoming carbon neutral by 2035. Finland has identified wood construction as one of the means to achieve this goal. In fact, every Finnish government in the 21st century has committed to promoting wood construction.
Against this backdrop, it is surprising how limited the use of wood remains in Finnish construction sector. Wood continues to dominate the detached housing sector, with nearly 90% of single-family homes built from wood. However, less than four percent of new apartment buildings are timber-framed, compared to as much as 20% in Sweden. Long-term statistics also show that the trend in wood construction in Finland has been declining since the 2010s.
Alongside ambitious targets, concrete measures are needed to increase the use of wood in construction.
First, low-carbon construction needs to be driven more ambitiously. Wood can play a significant role in reducing emissions from the built environment, as its use often lowers a building’s lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions. Buildings and construction account for more than one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, making construction solutions critical to achieving climate goals.
Finland has been among the first countries in the EU to introduce carbon footprint limits for new buildings. The next step is to increase the ambition of these limits so that they genuinely encourage the development and deployment of low-emission building solutions.
This is supported by the EU’s ongoing Carbon Removals Certification Framework (CRCF), one objective of which is to recognize the value of long-term carbon storage in buildings. This also provides an important pathway for achieving the EU’s climate objectives.
Second, the public sector must use its purchasing power to promote and scale up low-carbon construction. Construction accounts for nearly one-third of the value of public procurement in the EU. The EU has already launched a reform of public procurement legislation aimed at giving greater consideration to low-carbon solutions.
Increasing the use of wood in construction can make a meaningful contribution to achieving climate goals. A target of at least 35% wood use in public construction projects should therefore be established. Such a target would support the development of wood construction markets, strengthen demand for these solutions, and create reference projects for growing export markets.
Third, the conditions for the use of wood in construction should be improved through more flexible planning and permitting processes. Not everything should be built from wood, but wood should be used where its advantages are the greatest. Wood is particularly well suited to industrial prefabrication and hybrid construction, where the strengths of different materials complement one another. The light weight of wood structures and the speed of construction are two key advantages of wood-based building solutions.
By leveraging these strengths, it is possible to significantly improve construction productivity while also contributing solutions to Europe’s housing crisis.
Fourth, broader collaboration is needed between businesses, the public sector, and other societal stakeholders. An excellent example can be found in Denmark, where the Reduction Roadmap initiative is supported by more than 600 companies, municipalities, and organizations. The initiative has helped establish the world’s most ambitious carbon footprint thresholds for buildings. In Denmark, this is seen not only as a climate action measure but also as an opportunity to strengthen innovation and export potential within the construction sector.
Finland has the same opportunity. We already possess extensive forest resources, a strong forest industry, deep expertise, and highly advanced wood-based building products. What is needed now is the courage and cooperation to create a policy and business environment that encourages greater use of wood in construction.
Increasing the use of wood in construction will not result from a single decision. It requires ambitious low-carbon policies, leadership through public procurement, planning and regulation that support the use of wood, and collaboration across society. Greater use of wood would help Finland achieve its climate objectives, while the economic activity generated would also benefit the national economy as a whole.
Finland has all the prerequisites to become a global leader in wood construction. What is needed now is action, not just ambition.